Posts Tagged ‘century silver’

Tureens
Tureens were introduced in the early 18th century, reflecting the French fashion for serving stews, soups and sauces. Legend has it that the tureen was named after the 17th-century Vicomte de Turenne, who reputedly ate his soup from his upturned helmet; in fact, the term derives from the French terrine. From the early 18th century, soup usually accompanied boiled meats, fish, and vegetables as part of the first course and was served to the guests by the host or hostess. As such, the tureen became associated with a show of wealth and was often the most richly ornamented and expensive piece in the dinner service. Sauce tureens replaced sauceboats in the second half of the 18th century and were often smaller versions of soup tureens.
SOUP TUREENS
soup tureens were introduced c.1720, but examples dating from before 1750 are very rare today. Generally circular or oval and of heavy-gauge silver, they were set on four cast scroll, hoof, or ball-and-claw feet with cast scroll, ring, or drop handles at the sides and a domed cover with an ornamental finial; most are engraved with a coat of arms. Tureens designed in the 1730s and 1740s by famous French silversmiths such as Juste-Aurele Meissonnier ( 1695-1750) and Thomas Germain are among the most magnificent pieces of Rococo silver pair of tureens (1734-40), designed by Meissonnier for the English Duke of Kingston, is cast in the shape of lame shells on curving scroll bases, with the covers decorated with cast crustacea, game, and vegetables. These pieces were highly influential: vegetable, fish, and game finials are a feature of European tureens from the 1730s to the 1760x. In the I 750s matching stands and ladles became popular, and many tureens were fitted with detachable liners in thin sheet silver with two end handles; these are often sold separately as baskets. Sheffield-plate liners became more common after the 1770x.
In the Neo-classical period architects such as Robert Adam (1728-92) produced designs for tureens to match the dining-room furnishings. Adam’s designs particularly influenced silversmiths, and tureens of this period arc generally oval on a single pedestal foot, with high loop handles, a ring handle, or an urn finial on the cover, and reeled, beaded, and gadrooned edges; decoration includes fluting, swags, palmettos, and bands of Vitruvian scrolls. Soup and sauce tureens were often made as sets from the 1770x, but these are now rare. Tureens were also made in Sheffield plate. The handles and feet of such pieces were not cast but stamped in two halves from thin sheet metal, filled with lead, and soldered together; in many cases a silver panel was inserted for engraving the armorials.
Early 19th-century Regency tureens contrast strongly with the elegant forms of the late 18th century: massive and of heavy-gauge silver, they are richly decorated with lion masks and Classical ornament and have four cast shell, scroll, dolphin, or paw feet. The best pieces have solid cast crests and heraldic devices on the cover. Due to the increasing popularity of the ceramic dinner service, fewer silver tureens were made in the first half of the 19th century. However, a distinctive form of the 1830s and 1840s was the melon-shaped tureen with cast vegetable finials, typical of the Rococo Revival style.
Silver disks for engraved coats of arms or crests, are often easily visible. More ornate and expensive examples have cast-and-applied swag ornament, with fruit- or bud-shaped finials; some especially fine pieces made by the renowned Birmingham manufacturer Matthew Boulton (1728-1809) also have radiating fluting on the covers. In addition, some sauce tureens were engraved with a crest or coat of arms on both the cover and the body; any armorials on the cover should match those on the body. In the late 18th century engraved armorials Such as these were often ten enclosed within wreaths or ribbon cartouches.
In the early 19th century silver sauce tureens were made in fewer numbers (sometimes in Sheffield plate), as ceramic examples (particularly those in creamware) became more popular and widely available. However, some heavier versions in both silver and Sheffield plate, with large, cast, drop-ring handles and elaborate mounts, finials, and decorative borders, standing on four feet, survive from this period, while the Neo-classical boat shape was revived at the end of the century.
SAUCE TUREENS
Sauce tureens became popular from the 1770s. Unlike traditional cold accompaniments to meat, such as mustard and redcurrant sauces, the new French sauces were served hot – meaning that tureens with lids were more practical than open sauceboats for keeping them warm. Sauce tureens were usually made in pairs or sometimes as a set of four – one for each corner of the table – and some had matching ladles. Single tureens are generally less collectable than a pair, and sets of four fetch considerably higher prices. Some examples have matching stands, as with sauceboats, to protect the table from the heat of the tureen’s contents and to hold the ladle when not in use, although other pieces have covers with a notch inside the tureen where the ladle could be placed.
Like soup tureens of the period, sauce tureens from the late 18th century are characteristically oval or boat-shaped, with elegant upswept loop handles and a single pedestal foot. The cover will often be steeply domed in the centre, with the finial at the same height as the top part of the handles. The body of the tureen was raised from a single sheet of silver, while the handles and foot were made separately and soldered onto the body. The majority of early tureens have cast handles, but from about 1790 a number were made from thick silver wire. These delicate handles, which could be very easily damaged by lifting the tureen when full, were sometimes reinforced at the bottom, but it is always important to make sure that the handles have not been pulled away from the body; nor should there be any cracks or tears on the lid where any reinforcing plate that secures the finial has been damaged and/or repaired.
Sauce tureens of this period tended to be sparingly decorated, usually only with reeding, gadrooning, or beading around the rims, covers, and feet; small, urn-shaped finials on the lid were common, but these
were generally replaced with a single reeded or plain ring handle from the early 1790s on onward. On such plain pieces scratches, dents, and, on versions made from Sheffield plate, inserted

Soup tureens• CONDITION seldom good as many pieces suffered from over-use and cleaning; pieces were raised from a single sheet and should therefore not have scams, thinning of metal may indicate removed armorials
• COLLECTING examples were usually made singly but sometimes in pairs; many were produced with stands, liners (often in Sheffield plate), and ladles, but these are typically missing or have been sold separately
Marks
These should appear on both the cover and the base; armorials on the cover should match those on the body
Sauce tureens• CONDITION with the earliest designs (typically featuring a pedestal foot and loop handles) it is particularly important to check for cracking, splitting, and signs of repair where the foot, finial, and handles, join the body
• COLLECTING examples were made from the I 770s, in pairs or sets of four; from c.1790 reeded or plain ring handles were common on the lid instead of the finial
Marks
The cover and body should feature the same mark; a crest on the cover should match that on the body

18th-19th Century Silver Entree Dishes and Sauceboats
Entree dishes and sauceboats were among the new items of dining silver introduced in France in the late 17th century. French fashion changed European tastes in food: as the new trend developed, the typical plain roast meat served with cold sauces was replaced by soups, stews, and dishes accompanied by hot sauces made from seafood or veal stock, ham and bacon, and herbs and spices. Silver was a particularly useful material for vessels containing these hot foods as it retains heat well. In the 18th century dishes and sauceboats were decorated en suite with plates, tureens and other dining utensils, as the complete dinner service with matching ornaments became the height of fashion.
SILVER ENTREE DISHES
Entree dishes were used for serving the “entree” – the first course of cooked food that came before the main meat course – for example, small game such as hare, pheasant, or partridge. From about the middle of the 18th century they were also known as “hash” or “curry dishes”, from the hot and spicy curries that were introduced to Britain via its extensive trade with India. Today, entree dishes are more popular for serving vegetables or salads.
Made in various sizes and often in pairs or sets of four, these dishes are shallow with a flat bottom and/or four low feet and usually a domed cover with a handle. As with candlesticks, single entree dishes are generally less collectable than a pair or set. The handles, which are sometimes wooden on early examples, are generally detachable, so that the cover can be used by itself as a separate dish. The cover should always fit comfortably into the dish, and both should bear the same marks. Some entree dishes had Sheffield-plate covers, possibly to reduce the cost of the whole piece.
Entree dishes from the mid- and late 18th century are usually oval in form, with a handle on the cover and very little ornament other than gadrooning or fluting around the edges. The finest entree dishes have heavy cast handles in the form of a family crest, but simple reeded or plain ring handles, with leaf decoration covering the locking plate, are more common. Most examples are also engraved with a coat of arms, but some pieces have a coat of arms on the cover and a crest on the base. Those made in the late 18th century tend to Lie much lighter than earlier ones, as the gauge of metal used was considerably thinner. Such pieces should therefore be carefully checked for denting or splitting.
In the early 19th century entree dishes became larger and heavier, with a more pronounced domed shape to the cover, and with ornate cast handles sometimes in the form of vegetables, reflecting the contemporary taste for naturalistic ornament. Shapes became more varied, being square, oblong, round, and cushion-like as well as oval. The simple gadrooning around the rims was often replaced by more elaborate reeding interspersed with flowers, scrolls, or shells.
To keep the food warm, the dish was generally placed either on a dish cross (incorporating a burner) or, from the early 19th century, on a plated heater base, usually made from Sheffield plate, which contained hot water or a block of heated iron. Only a very few entree dishes are found today with their original heater base.
Fewer dishes were being made for the entree course by the mid-19th century, principally because the custom of laying out dishes on the table so that diners could help themselves was replaced by the practice of servants serving food to each of the diners individually as they moved around the table.
SILVER SAUCEBOATS
First introduced c.1715, sauceboats were used for serving gravy or the rich, thick sauces that accompanied meat and fish dishes. They were often made in pairs, and sometimes in sets of four or six for larger services. Like other items commonly made in pair or sets, a single sauceboat is generally less desirable than a pair. The earliest examples of the George I period were double-lipped and stood on a flat oval base with simple scroll handles on either side of the body. The only decorative features were the moulded, wavy rim and engraved armorials. However, this form, which was copied by early European porcelain manufacturers, proved impractical for pouring, and by c.1725 the familiar bulbous form of sauceboat had appeared, with its single everted (out-turned) lip opposite a handle. It was first made with a central pedestal foot; three or four cast hoof, shell, or scroll feet were introduced in the 1740s, and cast masks or shells applied where the feet joined the body. Some sauceboats were made with a matching circular or oval stand and ladle and sometimes a cover.
The body of the sauceboat was generally raised from a single sheet of silver, so no seaming should be evident. For practical reasons, decoration was restricted to gadrooning or punching to strengthen the wavy rims and the shells or masks where the feet joined the body, although crests were sometimes engraved on either side
of the body or under the lip. Cast double-scroll handles were usual until c.1745 and flying-scroll handles (with only one end joined to the body) thereafter, sometimes with leaf decoration.
The sauceboat was a form particularly well exploited in the 1730s and 1740s by the best Rococo silversmiths, often of Huguenot descent – in England, Paul Crespin (1694-1770), Paul de Lamerie (1688-1751), and Nicholas Sprimont (1716-71) – who produced shell-shaped bodies with ornate cast handles
in the form of dolphins, caryatids, birds, griffins, and animals, and cast and applied shells and marine creatures. The bodies of Rococo sauceboats are also sometimes decorated with cast and applied scrolls
and cartouches. Some of the highest-quality sauceboats are gilded inside. Among the finest examples of this period are the set of naturalistic shell-shaped sauceboats with sculptural figural handles made by Sprimont in 1743-4 for Frederick, Prince of Wales.
The prevalence of sauceboats with shell-and-fish motifs indicates the popularity during this period of rich sauces made with fish. Some rare examples have
a body with a double thickness of silver, to be filled with hot water to keep the sauce warm at the table.
In the 1770s the central foot
again became fasionable and bowls were deeper, with a tall loop handle replacing the
scroll handle. However, sauceboats were generally superseded by sauce tureens in this period, although they returned after the 1820s. In the 19th
century, sauceboats were often made in 18th-century styles as part of a ceramic dinner service. Common features of 19th-century sauceboats include a heavy cast foot, applied shell decoration, leaf-capped scroll handles, and three feet. The shell shape was also revived
and was produced in Sheffield plate as well as silver; similarly, the early double-lipped sauceboat was popular in the 1820s and 1830s; examples of this date can be distinguished from the early 18th-century versions by their high, inward-curving handles. Sauce-boats of this period were commonly produced in large sets of varying sizes, especially in response to the expansion of the hotel and catering trades after the mid-19th century.
Entree dishes•
DESIGN the cover may have gadrooned rims on the inside to match the base when turned over and used as a dish.
• CONDITION the cover and handle should both fit properly; lead may show on Sheffield-plate examples –this is caused by bleeding from lead-filled plated and applied handles under heat.
• COLLECTING most entree dishes found today are not in good condition because they have been subjected to considerable use – only the best are collectable; lack of detachable handle (or handle soldered on) reduces value; plated heater bases are often found separately.
Marks
The cover and dish should bear the same marks; armorials on the cover should match those on the base
Sauceboats
• CONDITION the handle should be securely attached –seaming under the handle may indicate repairs; pieces in good condition, raised from a single sheet of silver, should have no seaming; rims are thin and often damaged or repaired; feet are vulnerable to damage.
• COLLECTING pairs are more valuable than singles.
Marks
These are under the body on three-footed pieces and on the edge or inside the foot on pieces with a central foot.

Decorative tableware
In the 18th and 19th centuries the utilitarian plate on dining-tales was complemented by richly
decorative pieces such as bread-, fruit- and cake-baskets, epergnes, and centrepieces. Made as much to display wealth as to be practical, these are characterized by high-quality casting, chasing, and, especially on baskets and epergnes, piercing. Such objects are among the most popular with collectors today because they are particularly attractive as
display pieces on a table.
SILVER EPERGNES
First used at the French court in the 1690s and in England c.1715, the epergne was an elaborate centrepiece for the dinner-table or sideboard. The name “epergne” is probably derived from the French word epargner, meaning “to save”: space could be saved on the table by
bringing together several dishes on one stand. By the 1740s the epergne was associated with the dessert course and generally took the form of a central
pierced basket surrounded by four to six pierced dishes or baskets for holding fruit or sweetmeats. It was most popular during the mid-18th century, when the light and delicate pierced forms, often ornamented with cast shells and flowers, were particularly suited to the Rococo style. Some epergnes, particularly those by the leading English maker Thomas Pitts (c.1723-93), demonstrate the contemporary vogue for chinoiserie, with their pagoda-like canopies with suspended bells.
In the 1760s and 1770s epergnes became wider and headier with the addition of more baskets, and in the 1-80s the influence of the Neo-classical style was
evident, with simpler oval or circular baskets, sometimes with blue glass liners, and decorated with Vitruvian scroll borders and swags. The leading specialist maker of epergnes in late 18th-century England was Thomas Pitts’s son William Pitts (active 1781-1806). Like other silversmiths, he offered clients a choice between more expensive epergnes, which had cast branches and decoration, and less expensive examples with mechanically produced ornament.
Heavier and more solid than 18th-century examples, Regency epergnes are usually mounted on a heavy Square or round foot, with branches ending in large floral sockets supporting cut-glass bowls rather than pierced silver baskets. Very few epergnes were made after this period, as they were generally replaced by the ornamental centrepiece.
SILVER CENTREPIECES
Large centrepieces as a decorative focal point for the dining-table or sideboard have always been among the most expensive items of plate and were often displayed as a sign of the wealth and status of the owner. One of the most famous and inventive pieces is the English silver-gilt Poseidon or Neptune centrepiece of 1741, made for Frederick, Prince of Wales. It features an elaborate stand of sculptural cast dolphins and mermen and is decorated with shells and marine creatures. Although this piece bears the maker’s mark of Paul Crespin (1694-1770), it may in fact have been designed and made by Nicholas Sprimont (1716-71 ); both were
leading English Huguenot makers of Rococo silver. The centrepiece was made with many matching salt-cellars and sauceboats, as befitting a grand table service for a royal patron.
Regency and Victorian centrepieces from the
19th century appear more frequently frequently at auctions today (although North American pieces are rare). Made with or without branches for candles, they usually have a central bowl, either solid silver or pierced with a glass liner, for fruit or sweetmeats. Centrepieces with all their original glass liners are rare today. Female caryatid figures supporting a bowl on a stand with heavy scroll or paw feet are characteristic of the Regency period, whereas later 19th-century centrepieces were made in
a huge variety of designs – naturalistic, sculptural figures were particularly popular. Many Victorian centrepieces were supplied with a flat, mirrored stand known as a “plateau” to enhance the decorative effect, but very often these became separated from the centrepiece and were sold on their own.
In the 19th century there was also a great demand for presentation plate, and the most important firms, such as Hunt & Roskell (est. 1844), Garrards (est. 1802), and Elkington & Co. (est. c.1830) in England, and Odiot in France, employed sculptors to design magnificent silver or electroplate centrepieces for historic or sporting occasions. Such pieces were shown at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London. Centrepieces were also made in Germany and Austria, notably by the firm of Klinkosch, but these are not always of such good quality as English and French pieces because the metal is often thinner. By the second half of the 19th century centrepieces had been scaled down in size and elaborateness, with a single basket on a stand becoming the usual form. This developed into the dessert stand, which had replaced the centrepiece by the end of the century.
Regency and early Victorian baskets were produced in a wide variety of styles, but in many cases they can be distinguished from 18th-century examples by an unpierced body that is embossed and chased with heavy scrolls, flowers, and foliage, or radiating lobes. Silversmiths in the 19th century also reproduced the shell-shaped designs and elaborate patterns that were typical of the Rococo period.
Victorian baskets are generally less expensive and more readily available to collectors today than examples from the 18th and 19th centuries. The handles on these baskets are sometimes bent or damaged (or have been removed altogether), as the weight of the unpierced body puts strain on them. Any basket that does not have a handle should be carefully examined to see if the handle has been removed. As on earlier examples, the feet may also have been pushed up into the body of the basket if it has at some stage been overloaded.
SILVER BASKETS
Silver baskets designed for holding bread, fruit, cake, or sweetmeats are known from the early 17th century, but most of those surviving today date from (.1730 onward. They are oval or circular with pierced sides,
a flat base on a raised foot or four cast feet, and a fixed or swinging bail handle. In many cases, the flat base was engraved with a coat of arms. In the late 1730s and 1740s the leading English silversmiths Paul de Lamerie (1688-1751), Paul Crespin (1694-1770), and
James Schruder (active 1737–(.1752) produced intricate Rococo baskets with delicate pierced designs of scrolls, circles, crescents, and quatrefoils, elaborate engraving and chasing, and asymmetrical handles with cast and applied masks, animals, figures, and birds.
Another feature typical of the Rococo fashion for novelty was the imitation of inexpensive materials in silver; on baskets dating from the first half of the 18th century the sides are often pierced and chased to give the impression of wickerwork strips. Some extremely rare and expensive baskets by the best makers were made in the form of sculptural scallop shells with scroll handles.
By the late 18th century silversmiths used hand-piercing only for the finest baskets, as the majority of pierced parts were mass-produced quickly and
accurately using the newly developed fly-punch. The silver sheet was also much thinner than on earlier pieces, so baskets of this date should always be carefully checked to make sure that the piercing is intact. Simple wirework baskets embellished with chased and applied motifs such as flowers, vine leaves, and sheaves of wheat (for bread-baskets) were also popular in the late 18th century.
Epergnes
• COLLECTING individual baskets may be sold separately; check branches and feet for cracks or repairs
Marks
All detachable parts should be marked; crests or coats of arms on each piece should match
Centrepieces
• COLLECTING mirrored plateaux are now often sold on their own; inscriptions do not add value unless of particular historical interest
Marks
All detachable parts should be marked
Baskets
• DESIGNS solid forms with chased scrolls, flowers, and shells were typical in the early 19th century
• CONDITION piercing is particularly vulnerable to damage and should be checked carefully; ensure that the handle is not bent or damaged due to wear or overloading the basket; feet are prone to pushing LIP through the body on light, sheet-metal baskets
• COLLECTING early 18th-century baskets in heavy-gauge metal are more valuable than later, lighter ones
Marks
Both the handle and body should feature the same mark; marks arc sometimes pierced out.

Candelabra – table candlesticks with branches for extra lights – began to be made from c.1660 and increased in popularity, throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. A candelabrum consists of a central shaft with two or more detachable scroll branches supporting candle sockets; sometimes there is also a socket at the top of the shaft. Made in similar styles to candlesticks and by the scone makers, candelabra were likewise generally produced in pairs. Most found today, are in good condition, because they were better made and much more expensive than candlesticks and therefore were not subjected to the same amount of wear or damage.
THE EARLY 18TH CENTURY Silver Candelabra
Although examples are known from the late 17th century, few candelabra dating from before the 1770, survive today. Until the late 18th century most had two branches, but matching branches and stems were not particularly popular or fashionable until c.1750. As on candlesticks, detachable nozzles for the sockets appeared c.1740. To be of value to collectors, a candelabrum should have all its separate parts – the branches, the nozzle, and the stem – in the same style and hearing the same maker’s marks. Before -.1750 branches were often considered awkward and so were discarded and the stem used as a candlestick.
French silversmiths createdd some of the finest Rococo candelabra in the early and mid-18th century. One of the most famous examples is a single three-hranched candelabrum designed in 1734-5 by juste-Aarele Meissonnier (1695-1750), Royal Goldsmith to King Louis XV of France, and executed by Claude DLIVivicr (1688-1747) for the English Duke of Kingston. It has an extraordinary, asymmetrical, spiralling stem with three richly sculpted branches ending in flower-shaped sockets, and a cast finial in the form of a cluster of leaves, which can be removedto hold a fourth candle. Such pieces fully exploit the plastic, sculptural qualities of cast sib, er, and had a particular influence in England, where elaborate Rococo candelabra were made by such leading silversmiths as George Wickes ( 1698-11-61) and Paul de Lamerie (1688-1751) in the 1740s and 1750x. All such pieces are exceptionally rare and valuable today and fetch high prices on the market.
THE LATER 18TH CENTURY Silver Candelabra
In the early 18th century the hour for dining was generally about 3p.m., but lit the latter part of the century it was put back and the main meal of the day was often eaten after dark. For this reason, more light was needed, and so candelabra from the 1770s onward usually have at least three branches. Elegant and light Neo-classical forms, with fluted or plain tapering baluster stems, simple, slender branches, and urn-shaped sockets, all decorated with beading and reeding, were especially popular. Such designs were produced in cast and loaded sheet silver and Sheffield plate; some candelabra have silver stems but Sheffield plate branches, perhaps to reduce the cost. Similarly, candelabra made entirely in Sheffield plate often had a matching set of more expensive silver candlesticks.
THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY Silver Candelabra
Massive, heavy silver-gilt candelabra are characteristic of the Regency period. Made largely to impress, these often form part of elaborate table centrepieces. Magnificent candelabra were made by the leading English goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge & Rundell (est. 1805) and by Paul Story (1771-1844) for the Prince of NXiale, (later King George IV) and his circle. Such pieces – such as one made by Edward Farrell in I824 – have five or more branches, sometimes with double sockets, and stems lit the form of caryatids or mythological figures. Earlier candelabra were often altered to suit new tastes: a pair of candlesticks ordered by the Earl of Carlisle from the firm Parker & Wakelin (est. -.1758) in 1770 was supplemented with double branches in 1780 and triple branches in 1826.
THE LATER 19TH CENTURY Silver Candelabra
Most candelabra made in the later 19th century are of loaded sheet silver or plate, and many have figures supporting the candle sockets or as decoration on the base. After the introduction of oil lighting, some candelabra were converted to oil lamps. in the second half of the 19th century a huge range of items, including candelabra, was produced using the new method of electroplating. Following the invention of the electric battery in the early 19th century, an English doctor named John Wright experimented with electrolysis to coat the surface of base-metal objects with precious metal. In 1840 the Birmingham firm of Elkington & Co. (est. c.1830), in partnership with Wright, took out the first patent for this new process. Known as “electroplating”, it involved the immersion into a plating bath of a nickel object attached to a positive anode and a block of pure silver attached to a negative anode. When the electric current was switched on, silver particles passed through the solution and were deposited on the nickel object; the same process could be used both for gilding and for replacing worn objects.
The introduction of electroplating led quickly to the decline of the Sheffield-plate industry. The new process was far safer than the old one, but its main advantage was that it enabled objects to be formed entirely by traditional silversmithing methods before being plated, making complex sculptural ornament possible. By comparison,handles and borders made in Sheffield plate had to be silver. Condition Is important stamped out from sheet silver, filled with lead, and applied.
Elkington & Co. and the marm, other electroplate manufacturers established in the 1850s and 1860s produced a huge range of electroplated items, from chargers, ewers, and centrepieces richly decorated with valuable ornament in various historical styles to cutlery, frames, and spoon-warmers. Elkington employed the French sculptor Leonard Morel-l.aclertil ( 1820— ) to design splendid Renaissance-style pieces for display at international exhibitions. The firm also used the process of electrotyping - taking a mould front an object and depositing onto it a thin layer of silver, backed with base metal - to produce facsimile copies of a number of historically important pieces of silverware, in particular a collection of Tudor and Jacobean silver held in the Kremlin Armoury in Moscow.
Since such large quantities of electroplate still exist, it is important to buy pieces in the very best condition. Electroplate can usually be distinguished from Sheffield plate by the harsher colour of the pure silver (the sterling standard was used in Sheffield plate) and the lack of visible series, and joins, which are hidden by the layer of deposited silver.

Candlesticks are among today’s most popular and collectable silver items. The earliest-surviving domestic examples date from the mid-17th century, but most found today were made from the 18th century onward. A great variety of styles is available, from the Classical column shape of the late 18th century to the inventive figural and telescopic forms of the 19th century.
Early candlesticks were cast in solid silver, but huge numbers of less expensive examples stamped from rolled silver sheet were being produced in Birmingham and Sheffield by the 1770s – these were among the first-ever items mass-produced by industrial methods. It is important to remember when buying candlesticks and candelabra that most were made as pairs.
Candlesticks Before 1800
Until the age of mass production, silver candlesticks were used mostly by the Church and the wealthy; others tended to be made of less expensive pewter. Examples made before the mid-17th century are rare. Medieval candlesticks, made largely for church altars, featured tripod feet and a pricker (metal spike) to hold the candle: sockets or sconces for the candle were not introduced until the 15th century. Candlesticks were usually made as pairs and are generally sold as such today; single candlesticksmay sometimes be worth as little as a quarter of the value of a pair.
BAROQUE AND QUEEN ANNE STYLES Silver Candlesticks
Although many candlesticks are recorded from before the 17th century, few survive; they were often melted down because they were damaged, or for conversion into coin. In particular, there are very few English candlesticks dating front before the 1650s, as much silver was melted down during the Civil War (1642-9).
In the 17th century most silver candlesticks were raised from thin, hammered sheet metal. The earliest candlesticks found on the market today, dating from the 167()s and 1680s, have stems of fluted Classical columns, or clusters of columns, and octagonal or square bases. Some rare examples have scalloped, richly embossed bases – a speciality of Dutch silversmiths. American candlesticks made before c.1760 are rare; the earliest-known pair, made in Boston, dates from 1675.
In the 1690s immigrant Huguenot silversmiths revolutionized the production of English candlesticks by casting them in solid silver rather than raising them from sheet. The base, stem, and sconce were cast separately and soldered together. The earliest pattern of cast candlesticks, •generally 15 to 18chn (6-7in) high, had a plain baluster stem with a series of knops (bulbous rings) on a square, round, or angled base. During the 17105 and 1720s octagonal and hexagonal faceted stems and bases, typical of the Queen Anne style, became fashionable. These elegant candlesticks, made in the higher-standard (”Britannia”) silver, were plain except for an engraved coat of arms at the bottom of the stem.
ROCOCO AND NEO-CLASSICAL STYLES Silver Candlesticks
The baluster shape remained the most popular design in the early and mid-18th century, but IT, the early 1730s candlesticks were slightly taller (19-23Cro/7e’2_9jlj high), with richer ornament of pleated, lobed forms on the base and stern. The influence of the Rococo style is evident in the chased shell motifs and flared, flower-like nozzles
of examples from the 17305 to the 17605. Some exceptionally fine candlesticks of this period have ornately cast and chased steins of figures holding the candle sconce above their heads. In the 1740s detachable nozzles were added to the spool-shaped sconces for saving dripping wax and for easier removal of candle stabs; some candlesticks found today have replacement nozzles because the originals were damaged or lost. Throughout this period some silversmiths specialized in the production of candlesticks; in England, the best known were the Gould and the Cafe families.
In the 1750 and 1760s simpler forms returned under the influence of the Neo-classical style. Candlesticks of this period, averaging 24 to 28.5cm (9f —I Ist) high, have plain, circular nozzles, square bases, and plain or faceted stems decorated with typically Classical gadrooning around the base, knici and sconce. By c.1765 Corinthian column
candlesticks had become fashionable, and by he 1770S and 1780s the French style of plain or fluted tapering baluster stein on a circular base, decorated with Neo-classical ornament such as reeding, beading, swags, and ram’s heads, was popular. Noted architects such as Robert Adam, James Wyatt, and Sir William Chambers also produced designs for Neo-classical candlesticks as part of their overall schemes for interior decoration.
Simple Neo-classical forms with restrained decoration were particularly v suited to new methods of manufacture. Silversmiths in the growing industrial centres of Birmingham and Sheffield used rolled sheet silver, made in flatting mills, to manufacture candlesticks on a large scale. As this silver was often of very thin gauge, the base of the candlestick was weighted, or “loaded”, with wood, pitch, or plaster of parts for stability. Mass production of loaded candlesticks in Birmingham and Sheffield increased after the opening of assay offices in those two cities in 1773; the candlesticks proved SO popular that London silversmiths often bought in provincially made pieces and overstani them with London marks. Loaded candlesticks were significantly less expensive than cast ones because much less silver was used, and they still fetch lower prices today.
SILVER TAPERSTICKS, CHAMBERSTICKS AND SNUFFERS
From the late 17th century silversmiths made taperstick, — smaller versions of candlesticks (10-13crr/4—Sin) —for holding a taper, or thin candle, with which to melt sealing wax and light tobacco pipes. Since the designs of taperstick, copy almost exactly those of candlesticks, many such pieces were probably supplied as a set, although taperstick, were usually made singly rather than as a pair. Front the irricl century the taperstick was replaced by the waxjack, featuring a central rod, around which the taper was coiled, on a circular foot.
chambersticks were used to light the way at night. Because each member of a household would need one, they were made fit large sets, but pairs were common after c.1800. They usually have a saucer-like base, decorated with reeding, beading, or gadrooning, with a central socket on a short stem, and detachable nozzles from the mid-18th century. Rare, early 17th-centUry chambersticks have long, flat handles, but ring- or scroll-shaped handles were introduced front the 1720s, with a thumb-piece and socket fora conical extinguisher. Some chambersticks also have a pierced slot under the sconce for snuffer scissors, but matching snuffer scissors and chambersticks are rarely found today.
Snuffers (scissor-like implements for trimming and collecting wicks) were an essential accessory for candles before the self-consuming wick was invented c.1800. They were produced by specialist makers. The earliest sets, from the late 17th to early 18th century, have vertical stands with faceted baluster stems and bases similar to contemporary candlesticks, sometimes with a conical extinguisher attached. Later sets have oblong or hourglass-shaped stands, like trays, with feet or handlts. Snuffer trays are sometimes sold today as pen trays.
Silver Candlesticks after 1800
By the late 18th century huge numbers of loaded sheet-silver candlesticks were being made using mechanized production in the English industrial centres of Sheffield and Buirraigham, primarily to meet demand from the newly prosperous middle classes. The Ire, mechanized techniques of rolling sheet silver, die-stamping, and die-sinking gradually began to replace laborious casting methods (although the best-quality candlesticks were still cast). Candlesticks were also among the earliest items made in Sheffield plate. As the 19th century progressed, elaborate surface ornament, in keeping with Victorian taste, and revivals of 17th- and 18th-century styles characterized the production of candlesticks. They remained popular as decorative items even after the invention of gas and oil lighting and, later, electricity.
LATE NEO-CLASSICAL CANDLESTICKS
At the end of the 18th century candlesticks of all kinds —cast, loaded sheet silver, or Sheffield plate — were made either in the Corinthian column style on a square foot, or in the plain or fluted tapering baluster form on a circular foot: both types are decorated with ornament derived from Classical architecture, such as swags, ram’s heads, vreaths, urns, and formal leaves. Thee are generally 25.5 to 31cm ( 10-12m) tall. Sheet-silver and Sheffield-plate candlesticks have Visible seaming lines where the separate sheet or plate parts have been joined. They may also have small holes in the silver (or patches Of visible copper on plate pieces), especially on areas of high relief, caused by overstretching the sheet or plate. Any die-stamped ornament should be sharply defined.
The telescopic adjustable candlestick, a speciality of Sheffield makers, was popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Made in loaded sheet silver and Sheffield plate, it featured a cylindrical stem fitted with telescopic slides rising from the base. Although telescopic candlesticks occasionally appear in auctions today, most do not worl, properly; their restoration can be costly.
THE 19TH-CENTURY REVIVAL STYLES Silver Candlesticks
In the 19th century silver items were produced in an unprecedented range of historical styles, mainly as a result of developments in mechanized production, which meant that manufacturers could reproduce almost any form or type of ornament. The widespread dispersal of aristocratic collections of historic plate also provided inspiration for designers. Motifs such as trefoils and arches derived from Gothic art, while the Rococo — more ornate and bulbous than the original 18th-CCutUry version — remained one of the most popular revival styles throughout the Venture.
REGENCY AND VICTORIAN CANDLESTICKS
In the Regency period (late ISth—cariv :19th centres candlesticks became more ornate, with richer foliate and scroll decoration on the base, at the top of the stem, and around the socket. From about the 1820, and 1830, candlestick-makers concentrated on imitating 17th-and 18th-cenrur.% styles, beginning with the Rococo. Candlesticks in the Rococo Revival taste arc richly chased all over with scrolls and flowers and have undulating baluster stems, but the curves are heavier, the proportions less balanced, and the sconces more bulbous than on 18th-century originals; most were also made of loaded sheet silver, rather than cast as they would have been in the first half of the 18th century. Since mechanized manufacture resulted in less expensive products, large sets of matching candlesticks were more popular in this period than
Candlesticks in revival styles were produced in both larger and smaller versions of the originals; man, were also made as exact copies of originals to replace those that were damaged or lost, although there are although a number of fakes. Figural candlesticks were particularly popular during the 19th century, reflecting contemporary taste for novelty pieces. Subjects for figural candlesticks included caryatids, knights in armour, and rustic figures of shepherds and shepherdesses; pairs usually consist of male and female figures.
In the 1890s there was a revival of the fashion for column candlesticks, this time with stepped square bases and with inam, variations in the patterns of the borders and the capital. These are generally smaller than late 18th-centurN versions — about 14can 15′ 2111) high. Afam candlesticks in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were wired for electrical lighting as dressing-table of desklights — in such cases there mac be holes in the base for the electrical cord. During the Vogue for the Queen Anne stele in the early 20th century, sonic silversmiths produced copies of early 18th-century styles; these can be distinguished from originals by their use of sterling silver instead of the Britannia standard and by their detachable no,zlcs, which did not appear before c.1740.
With the invention of the self-consuming candle wit: in the early 19th century, snuffers became obsolete, although some were made in revival stales.
THE NEW INDUSTRIAL CENTRES
Candlesticks were among the first items mass-produced in the English cities of Birmingham and Sheffield, using newly developed mechanized methods of manufacture. With the expansion of industry in those cities in the mid-19th century, candlestick manufacture became a specialized trade. The rolling, mill, invented c.1740, enabled a silver ingot to be flattened into a sheet of uniform gauge, while the fly press, developed in the 1760, and 1770x, made accurate and repetitive piercing possil-il, Both these inventions reduced labour and manufacturing costs, since they replaced laborious hammering and hand-piercing. Decorative components were also mass-produced by die-stamping. The sheet of metal was placed oil a block with a sunken die in the form of the pattern to lie reproduced; this was struck with a hammer with a relief pattern in the sart, shape as the dic. This method was used for items in both silver and Sheffield plate, and a vast range of styles and forms was made possible by interchanging the decorative stamped components. As complete sets of dies were highly expensive, then were often used by several manufacturers, resulting in the production of identical patterns by a Nall of silversmiths. These new industrialized methods were especially well exploited by the Birmingham makers Matthew Boutton ( 1728-1809) and John Fothergill (ti. 1782), who pioneered the use of the steam-powered rolling mill in the late 18th century.

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